The Chinese central bank held a press conference in
which Governor Zhou
Xiaochuan struck a more hawkish tone than before.
He said inflation should be watched closely and that monetary
policy should be determined by inflation rather than asset
classes like real estate. Bank
of America's Ting Lu writes that this "might be a
consequence of being criticized by the public for carrying out
overly loose monetary policy since late 2008."
The seven megatrends that will dominate China's next decade
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The U.S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA) might purchase 400,000 tons of sugar to avoid
default by sugar processors, according to the
WSJ. This
is meant to support sugar prices that have tumbled ever since
the USDA offered loans to sugar processors in October.